Charles Everett Koop, M.D., controversial Surgeon General of the U.S. from 1981 to 1989, was born on this date in 1916. Koop served as chief surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from 1948 to 1981, before beginning government service under the Reagan Administration. Koop became the nation's chief spokesman on the AIDS epidemic, creating controversy with his vocal support for early, candid sex education and the use of condoms. The doctor received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995.

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